TikTok ban: Biden admin ‘exploring options’ and the app might not be gone Sunday
Share:
If the administration stops the ban, the issue would be adjudicated by the incoming Trump administration. “Americans shouldn’t expect to see TikTok suddenly banned on Sunday,” one official said, telling the network that the administration is looking at ways to implement the law without the app going offline.
![[Recently passed legislation - and signed by Biden - required ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok based in China, to divest from the app]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/16/13/BIDEN-CIBERSEGURIDAD_84695.jpg)
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Bruce Reed has been fielding calls from those pushing the president to stop a ban from going into effect, two people familiar told NBC. If the administration stops the ban, the issue would be adjudicated by the incoming administration, which takes the reins following Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
On Wednesday, incoming Trump National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News that Trump is ready to step in to stop the ban. Similarly, Trump’s attorney general nominee Pam Bondi did not commit to enforcing the ban during her Wednesday Senate confirmation hearing.
But a White House official told NBC that it’s not an option to not enforce the ban if it’s upheld by the Supreme Court. “We are not considering deferring enforcement,” they said. “Statutorily, we don’t believe we have the authority to do that.”.
Both Biden and Trump previously supported banning TikTok. Trump said on the campaign trail last year that he would “save TkTok” after trying to ban it during his first term. Meanwhile, the app is looking at its options, including the possibility of being shut down on Sunday, but it could also allow the app to remain on the marketplace without any further updates.
